Chapter 5 #2
“It’s not even lunchtime yet and people are already eating giant turkey legs. God bless this great country.” Reid gave a mock salute to the middle-aged couple who walked by while stuffing their faces with fair food.
Madden chuckled. “Anyone who eats much here, a heart attack can’t be far away.”
“Everything in moderation.” Reid studied the PDF file on his phone one more time before putting his device in the back pocket of his jeans. “So how do you want to handle this job?”
“It’s a logistical nightmare.” Madden scrubbed a palm over his face. “Too many people, not enough officers to keep them safe. And two of us can’t be effective. Not here. We need more guys.”
“Dax?”
Madden nodded. “I’ll ask him. He’s hemmed and hawed about working for his big brother, but he’d be good at it.”
Reid nodded but bit back his comments on Madden’s younger brother. Families were often complicated, and he didn’t need to put his nose in anyone else’s business. “And Ben?”
A beat of silence proceeded Madden’s sigh. “I’ll call him. I know he’s looking for work and needs to figure out where his life’s heading. But I need to know his head’s on straight if he’s going to work for Sunrise Security.”
“Not sure his head will ever be like it was before the accident, but he seems better.”
At least that’s what their fellow Marine had told him the last time they’d spoken. After leaving the military, they’d all had a hard time readjusting to civilian life. But the loss Ben had suffered outweighed the burdens he and Madden had brought home.
“You make the calls, and I’ll scout the area,” Reid suggested.
“Deputy Sanders told us where the department has a few deputies stationed, but it’d be good to see locations that need surveillance.
You might think back to your wilder years.
Try to remember a few places that the presence of a couple bodyguards would have discouraged some bad behavior. ”
Madden snorted out a laugh. “I have no clue what you’re talking about. I never got out of hand as kid. Never even thought about it. But good plan. Make a lap around the place, take some notes, and we’ll discuss after I speak with Dax and Ben.”
While Madden peeled off to find somewhere quiet, Reid shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back the way they’d first come earlier that morning.
The once-deserted path was now filled with hyper kids and smiling couples.
Vendors had opened their shops, hollering at passersby to try a sample of homemade soap or look at specialty pieces whittled from wood.
He wished he could be like one of the couples, here to enjoy a beautiful day at the rodeo with an even more beautiful woman.
The thought slammed against his chest like an anvil. Eve was the only woman he’d want to laugh with about eating a giant turkey leg or delight in tasting fried candy bars. She’d cheer and holler over a glass of beer while watching bull riders then swoon over baby goats at the petting zoo.
He should check in on her. A quick call to make sure she was doing all right before he got to work. He wouldn’t be able to think straight until he heard her voice.
He reached for his phone, but commotion in the stable to his left caught his attention. Shrieks and calls for help had him putting his phone back in his pocket and sprinting toward the large, white barn that housed the bulls and horses.
People clogged the entrance, racing to escape the barn.
Reid shoved his way through the crowd, his hand on the butt of his weapon. He didn’t want to draw it and create more chaos but needed to be ready in case the killer was inside. Hunting for his next victim.
Making his way into the barn, he collided with a teenager with spiky hair and wild eyes.
“You don’t want to go in there, man,” the boy said as he bounced off Reid. “Someone let out one of the bulls. That thing is pissed and on a rampage.”
Shit. Maybe not a killer, but just as deadly. Reid might have grown up among more cornfields than cattle, but he’d spent his fair share of time around livestock. Any large animal could pose a threat, but an angry bull among a crowd of people was an invitation for disaster.
A piercing cry for help hurried Reid around the corner to the aisle that housed the animals. His blood froze in his veins. A mother shielded her child from a giant bull, her kid against the back wall with the bull blocking her means of escape.
Reid spied the open door to the empty stall. He grabbed a broom resting in the corner then yanked his cowboy hat off the top of his head and waved it high in the air. “Hey there! Over here!”
The bull spun toward him, his nostrils flailing and murder in his eyes. He pawed at the ground. His long ivory horns spiraled out from the top of his lowered head.
Reid braced himself, moving forward until he stood next to the stall door. Replacing his hat on his head, he gripped the broom with both hands and brought it parallel to the ground, chest high. “Get goin’ now.”
The bull snorted and charged. His muscled frame ate up the concrete, erasing the distance between them in seconds.
Reid jutted the broom forward one end at a time.
A quick jab smacked the animal between the eyes.
He reared up his head and twisted, the sharp dagger of his horn slicing into Reid’s side.
Pain tore through his body. He gritted his teeth and hit the bull in rapid succession, forcing him to turn back into his stall.
As energy and adrenaline leaked from his body, he fastened the lock then fell to the hard ground.
Warm, sticky blood oozed from where the bull’s horn grazed against his skin. Hunching forward, he applied pressure to the gash and hissed out a breath.
The crying mother ran to him and dropped to the floor. “Oh my God. What can I do? How can I help?”
He squeezed his eyes closed against the crushing agony ripping along his side. “Call 911. I need medical attention now.”